There aren’t many days as an activist that you actually get to see success. Today, however, was not one of those days.

Today President Obama signed a series of Executive Orders, which closed Guantanamo, set up a review for all the detainees, and required that the Army field manual be used as the guide for terror interrogations. The order essentially ends the Bush administration’s CIA program of enhanced interrogation methods, though it falls short of declaring these methods to be torture. It also prohibits the CIA from operating any sort of prison and calls for ICRC access to the detainees.

In my favorite smack down of the Administration, the order prohibits reliance on any Department of Justice or other legal advice concerning interrogation that was issued between September 11, 2001 and January 20, 2009. Take that, Office of Legal Counsel! The order is not perfect: for example, it leaves open the possibility that the President could issue a new Executive Order if someone like Osama bin Laden were captured. It’s a great first step, even if there is a lot more work and healing to do.